


Your Mother Should Know

by Ellana17



Series: The Family You Choose [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Family Feels, Gen, Post-Episode: s12e06 Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox, The Winchester Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-07 09:28:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10357329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellana17/pseuds/Ellana17
Summary: Mary meets Claire. It doesn’t go that well.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I think one of my favorite Mary moments is the utter devastation on her face in “The Song Remains the Same”. I can still hear her saying “I raised my kids to be hunters?” man, that hurts. I wanted to play around a bit with her outright refusal to raise a kid in that world.
> 
> Keep in mind that this is written before “Ladies Drink Free”.
> 
> The title is a song by the Beatles.

“Hey there, Jody!” Dean exclaimed as soon as he picked up the phone. “Everything’s okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s good,” their friend answered, sounding distracted.

Dean lifted his feet off the table. “What’s wrong?” he asked at once.

“What?” Jody asked, surprised. “Oh, nothing’s wrong. No monster in sight or anything,” she said. “No, no monster involved.”

“Okay,” Dean trailed off, shaking his head. “So what’s up?”

“Can’t a girl simply phone from time to time?”

“Jody…”

“Look, I know you’re probably really busy at the moment but I need a favor.”

“Shoot.”

“I’m meeting a few friends in Kansas soon, and well, I know I left Alex alone last time I went away… but now that Alex and Claire are starting to get along better… They’ll be on a break from school by then,” she added. “It’s not that I don’t trust them, it’s just that I would feel better if I knew they were safe, you know. I mean, if you’re not home and you have a case going on, I totally understand…”

“Wait a minute,” Dean cut in. “You want _us_ to look after the girls while you’re away?” Dean asked in disbelief. “Jody, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Actually, I’m sure that’s the worst idea you ever had.”

“Why thank you, Dean,” Jody replied.

“You know what I mean. Given Claire’s… extracurricular activities, it’s not a good idea to bring her here. Do you really want her around guns all day round?”

“ _I_ have a gun,” Jody underlined.

“You do know the bunker was the HQ of a secret society, right?”

“Dean,” Jody cut in. “I need you to be honest with me for one moment. If you don’t want the girls to come, they can stay at home. They’re probably planning to throw a party while I’m away, anyway but… Claire misses you.”

“Has she said anything to you?” Dean asked, doubtful.

“Of course not,” Jody stated. “I know for a fact that she won’t. But she misses you, I can tell. She was pretty disappointed when I told her you guys came by when she was in Omaha. And Castiel didn’t even bother to show up last time so, you know… If your reluctance is some sort of misplaced sense of duty or fear of hurting her, I assure you there’s no need for that. I have to warn you though; she’ll probably act as though she doesn’t want to be there. And Alex probably won’t be too happy with this arrangement either.”

“Shouldn’t you be trying to butter me up so I say yes?” Dean snorted.

“It’s no use lying to you, you know them too well,” Jody joked.

“True. They’re good kids, though.”

“They really are,” Jody agreed.

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. “You don’t actual have anything planned up, do you?”

Jody sighed. “I mean, I do have friends over there, I just haven’t called them yet,” she admitted.

“Okay, then,” he grunted. “I guess they can stay here for a few days.”

“Really? Sam won’t mind?” she asked. “Shouldn’t you check with him first?”

“Are you kidding? He’ll be thrilled!” Dean exclaimed. “Especially if you bring some home-cooked meal when you drop off the girls, you know, as repayment,” he joked.

“Oh, hush,” she laughed. “Thanks, Dean,” she said after a bit. “It means a lot.”

“Yeah, well, you’re welcome.”

ooo

Dean was just sitting down at the table with a fresh bottle of beer a few days later when he heard the knock. He grumbled and got up reluctantly. The girls had arrived the day before; Dean had spent that entire time keeping Claire away from the guns and keeping up with Alex’s mood swings. Man, teenagers were exhausting. Dean did not remember being like this at their age. And now he was starting to sound like an old man. He sighed and hurried up the stairs.

“I though I told you to take your keys before you leave,” Dean chastised as he opened the door and stopped short when he realized the person standing there was not Sammy after all.

“Mom?”

“Hi,” Mary answered before letting herself in.

“Huh, hi. Why didn’t you call to let us know you were coming?” he asked.

“My phone ran out of batteries.”

“Of course it did,” Dean nodded with a small smile.

“Is it a bad time?” his mother asked, seeing him look over his shoulder.

“What? No, no, come on in. Sam’s out, though.” Both of them walked down the stairs. “Claire!” he called.

“What’s up, old man?” the teen said as she casually exited the library. Dean rolled his eyes at seeing the book in her hands. Demonic possession. Of fucking course.

“You have a kid?” Mary straight up accused before Dean could introduce them properly.

“What? No!” Dean and Claire both exclaimed at the same time. Dean gave the girl a look before turning back to his mother. How could he even begin to explain Claire to her? “That’s Claire,” he started. “She’s Cas’… I mean she’s Jimmy’s…”

“I’m Castiel’s daughter,” Claire said resolutely, straightening her shoulders. Dean’s eyes traveled back to her but the girl refused to meet his gaze. She walked out the room after her outburst, figuring she would let Dean explain the mess that had become their life.

Alex found her on the bed in Claire’s assigned room a few hours later, staring at the pages without really seeing them.

“You’re still reading that thing,” Alex stated, learning against the doorframe.

Claire closed the book. “When did you get back?” she asked, sitting up against the headboard.

“Just now. Sam insisted we stop by the bookshop on the way back.” She shuddered at the memory. “Hey, have you met their mom yet?” Alex asked, sitting cross-legged on the bed.

“You’re kidding, right?” Claire exclaimed. “That’s their mom? I thought she was, you know…”

“Well, not so much,” Alex said. “I understand where you’re coming from though, she’s way too good looking to be their mom.”

Claire cracked a smile. She knew it was pointless though; Alex was giving her that look again. The girls had not known each other long but Alex always seemed able to call her bluff. Besides, the brunette really was getting a kick out of calling Claire out on her bullshit.

“I told her I was Cas’ daughter,” Claire told her, making a face.

Alex’s eyes got wide. “Wow, really?”

“It seemed like the shortest explanation,” she shrugged.

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

“Come on…” Alex urged on, poking Claire’s thigh with her bare foot. The blonde slapped the offensive foot away.

“She thought Dean was my father,” Claire finally explained.

“Who? Their mom?”

Claire nodded. “You should have seen her, she looked so damn disappointed! What’s her deal anyway?” Alex shrugged. “I said the first thing that came to my mind, you know. Cas is not my dad, obviously, and he never will be. But he cares about me, in his own way. I don’t know. It feels… nice, I guess.”

“I know what you mean,” Alex said.

“Our life is fucked up,” Claire announced.

“You’re telling me,” Alex sighed, poking the girl again.

“Quit that,” Claire exclaimed, genuinely laughing for the first time in days. Alex kept poking her until both girls were laughing too hard to breath. “Doesn’t it feel unfair?” Claire asked quietly once they both calmed down.

“What does?”

“That they got to get their mom back,” Claire whispered, feeling awful about it as soon as the words left her mouth.

Alex opened her mouth but seemed to change her mind. “Shove over,” she said before lying down next to Claire.

ooo

Claire was alone in the kitchen, pouring herself a large cup of coffee when Mary entered the room the next morning.

“I overreacted yesterday,” the woman said as an introduction. Claire stayed silent. “Dean explained what happened,” the woman continued. “I’m sorry about your parents.”

“Thanks,” she simply said. Claire raised the cup to her lips to avoid the awkward silence that followed her short answer.

“Should you be drinking this?” Mary asked suddenly.

“I’m eighteen,” Claire underlined, not unpleasantly. She saw Mary’s shoulders drop.

“Right. I guess I have no idea how anyone’s supposed to raise a teenager nowadays,” she noted bitterly.

Claire frowned. “I’m sorry too, about what happened to you,” she said after a while. “It sucks.” Mary nodded. Now that she knew they were related, Claire could clearly see some of Dean and Sam in Mary. Oddly, that made her think she could trust the woman. “Can I ask you something personal?” Claire enquired hesitantly.

“Go ahead.”

“How was it like? Heaven, I mean.”

Claire dropped her gaze to the cup in her hands to avoid Mary’s eyes as they filled with pity. A woman who just came back from the dead after plus thirty years felt pity for her; that was a new low, even for Claire.

“Peaceful,” Mary said quietly. “I was with my family.” Claire nodded slowly. “If your question has to do with your parents,” Mary said gently, “maybe you should ask the actual _angel_ here.”

“Yeah,” Claire trailed off. “I don’t know, I would feel weird asking him about that, I guess. Plus, he’s not here now, is he?” she noted bitterly.

They both took an awkward sip of coffee after that.

“So,” Mary said suddenly. “I have this issue with my cellphone. Sam tried to explain something to me but I didn’t really catch any of it,” she admitted. “Maybe you could help me?” she asked.

Claire looked up in surprise. “Yeah, sure,” she nodded, taking the offered phone in her hands.


End file.
